Al King returns to games industry

Former EA and 20th Century Fox marketing director Al King has made a return to the video games industry with Creative Partnership.

The marketing firm specialises in creating movie trailers, and has hired King to head up an expansion of its service offering to include video games.

Creative Partnership has produced trailers and TV spots for hundreds of blockbuster titles including 28 Days Later, Spider-man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean and 24.

King said: “More than ever before, games are competing equally with movies for consumers’ attention. With the launch of a blockbuster title, there is a huge level of anticipation in the target market, regardless of whether the title’s a movie or a game.

“The trailers for both products need to do exactly the same thing: deliver an aspirational, compelling and emotional narrative that satisfies the viewers’ anticipation whilst simultaneously creating more.

“Unfortunately, some game trailers, like some movie trailers, fail to do this. There is a very unique skill set required to summarise, sell and entertain within a 90 second window. We believe that over our 30 year history we’ve sharpened those skills and can now bring a fresh perspective to games publishers who are looking for a different, high-end approach to trailer making.”

King was marketing director at EA from 1993 to 2003, and joined 20th Century Fox in 2004. He also held roles at Midway and startup Kwari.

Nic Ost of Creative Partnership added: “The Call of Duty 4 and Grand Theft Auto IV trailers have caught the eye of the movie industry, and from our perspective are achievable benchmarks for the entire video games industry.”

MCV is the leading trade news and community site for all professionals working within the UK and international video games market. It reaches everyone from store manager to CEO, covering the entire industry. MCV is published by NewBay Media, which specialises in entertainment, leisure and technology markets.